VAUGHAN, ON - The Durham Lords win bronze at the 2023 OCAA Women's Soccer Championship. That marks an 11th all-time OCAA medal for Durham College in women's soccer.

After falling to the Humber Hawks in the semifinal, the Lords still had an opportunity on Saturday to take home a medal in another edition of the Sledgehammer Series with a matchup against the St. Clair Saints.

Durham scored first as Erin Michalicka (Pickering, ON) found the back of the net in the 25th minute. St. Clair tied it up only 14 minutes later, sending the match into halftime all tied up. The Lords had a hot start, outshooting the Saints 7-5 through 45 minutes.

In the second half, Erika Bjorgum (Kingman, AB) found Michalicka for her second goal of the afternoon to take the lead back. It was short-lived as St. Clair tied it at two only four minutes later.

90 minutes was not enough, sending the two teams to 30 minutes of extra time - which was also not enough time to separate the two.

Bjorgum was the first to kick in the penalty shootout, picking the bottom left corner for a goal. St. Clair missed their first opportunity, thanks to a massive save from the 5-foot-8 goalkeeper Kayla Edelhofer (Bowmanville, ON), who was substituted into the match late in extra time specifically for penalty kicks.

Durham scored their first four shots, but a big save from the Saints goalkeeper on the fifth shot kept them in the match.

With extra kicks required, Chloe Hercia (Oshawa, ON) sent the goalkeeper the other way to score on the right side to make it 5-4. Edelhofer followed it up with a diving save on the next shot to win the match and secure the bronze medal for the Lords.

Olivia Checchia (Bowmanville, ON) was named the player of the match for the Lords. During the award presentations, Michalicka was recognized as a championship all-star.

In his first season as head coach of the program, Bruce Cullen already has a medal hanging around his neck following an 8-1-1 finish in conference play with a 14-3-1 record in all competitions this season.

The Lords next look ahead to the OCAA Indoor Soccer Regionals in late February.

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